Hermione's Choice
by Lily MJ Fae
Summary: The Ministry has interfered in the lives of everyone after the war by creating a Marriage law. All eligible witches and wizards must marry. And so Hermione finds herself waiting for someone to approach her, but isn't prepared for the Man who does. Marriage Law AU, Snape Lives AU


_**A/N:**_ _Hello all. This is my round 11 submission for the Quidditch League Fanfiction Competetion. I'm the captain of the Ballycastle Bats._

 _ **Prompts:**_

 _Quidditch League: Common Harry Potter trope; Crossgen! Marriage Law_

 _Quidditch Pitch: Hermione/Severus Pairing_

 _Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry: Ancient Runes; Assignment 4, Task two: Write about someone hesitating before making an important decision. Extra prompt: Detached._

 _Final Word count: 2400 (google)_

* * *

Hermione tried to be happy for her friends as Harry and Luna celebrated their engagement. She tried to wish them well without a second thought. But inside, she was feeling alone, and she was jealous and couldn't help wishing that it might not work out - not because she had feelings for Harry, no; he was too much like a brother for that - but because she still had no one.

Ever since the Wizengamot released the new marriage law, she had been waiting, waiting for someone, _anyone_ , to approach her. She desperately missed Ron, who she had the fortune of not seeing today as he was off on his honeymoon with Lavender.

* * *

" _Mione, could we talk a moment?" Ron asked as he stepped into her shared room with Ginny at the Burrow._

 _Ginny looked between her brother and best friend before getting up. "I'm going to go see if George needs help with his latest experiment."_

 _And the two of them were alone. Hermione couldn't help but feel a certain fear at the way he had spoken. "What's wrong?" she asked softly._

" _I got my list today."_

" _Oh."_

 _With the new law, they had been waiting anxiously for Ron to receive his owl so they could know their own fate. And the way he was acting, she had not made the list of his eligible matches._

" _You're on it," he started._

 _Her heart sank. "I'm on it, but?"_

" _I can't marry you, Mione. I thought it was what I wanted. I thought I could, but when this arrived, I realized the gravity of the choice. We talked about getting married, even though we only just started seeing each other, and it was great to imagine - but when I think of us, you are never happy in the future I see. I cannot provide all of the things that would make you happy. You deserve to be completely happy and I don't think I am the person capable of doing that." He paused for a moment, examining the tears as they streamed down her face. "And I don't think you're the person who's going to make me as happy as I deserve to be. We both deserve to be completely happy in life."_

 _Hermione let loose a sob as her heart broke a little. "Why couldn't I make you happy? Why am I not good enough? Do I even want to know who you're choosing over me?"_

 _Ron sighed and looked at her with pity in his eyes. "Mione, you're too smart for me. I've always been in yours and Harry's shadows. I can't be in a marriage like that. And I'm not nearly smart enough to make you happy. I zone out every time you get on a roll about whatever topic interests you."_

" _Who is she?"_

" _Mione, don't - "_

" _I'm going to find out one way or the other, so just tell me."_

" _Lavender."_

" _Why her? Of all the people in the world, why her?" Hermione demanded, her voice still breaking from the tears._

" _It was her or you. And I am the only person on her list. The letter said that you still three other possible suitors. She doesn't. And I think she and I could be happy together. Please, Mione. I didn't do this to hurt you. I want you to be free to be with someone who's capable of making you truly happy."_

 _She let loose another sob as he stood and walked towards the door. "I'm really sorry, Mione." And then he was gone, leaving her to curl up with her face in a pillow. She barely noticed when Ginny returned and placed a hand on her shoulder to soothe her._

* * *

Severus couldn't figure out for the life of him why he was standing in the room full of people to celebrate Potter's engagement. More accurately, he couldn't fathom how he'd come to be invited, or why he had accepted the invitation. No one really bothered with him anyway. No, no one approached him as he stood in the corner just watching as everyone toasted and mingled, celebrating the young couple.

As he watched, he could find one only person who seemed just as uncomfortable as he was, and the fact that she had a fake smile plastered on her face was obvious to him, even from across the room. He couldn't fathom why Granger wouldn't be happy for her best friend's engagement, and yet she clearly wasn't. In fact, his surprise turned to pure shock as she quickly made her way towards the exit.

He wasn't sure why, but he was too curious to just leave it be, and so he too made his way towards the small garden just outside of the house. Granger stood in the small gazebo, leaning over to examine the small pond that surrounded it. He approached, carefully and quietly.

"I would have thought you'd be happier for Potter," he said as he stepped into the gazebo.

She jumped as she turned, holding a hand to her chest. He hadn't meant to startle her, but he hadn't tried not to either.

"I - I am happy for him - them," she stumbled out, her voice cracking just slightly.

"No, you're not. If you were you wouldn't be out here. And you would have been standing right next to him when he announced it."

"I _am_ happy for them. I'm happy that he has found someone that he is happy with."

"But?" Severus asked, reading in the tone of her voice that there was more.

"It's hard to be happy when I have no one."

Severus cocked his head at her as he leaned against the supports of the gazebo and crossed his arms. "What happened to Weasley?"

She sneered at his tone but responded curtly, "married Lavender Brown. They're on their honeymoon right now."

"I see," Severus stated, staring into her eyes. "And no one else has gone after the last member of the Golden Trio."

"I'm more than just that!" she spat.

He knew that she was. He knew that she was so much more than just a member of the Golden Trio. She was the brains behind them, the only reason they survived. And she was utterly brilliant. And if he were to be honest, she was extremely attractive.

"Still, you'd think you'd have other suitors."

"I am supposed to. Ron said that the letter mentioned that I had three other possible suitors. I don't know who they are, but I know that none of them have approached me, which means in a year, I'll be forced to marry someone who had no matches, or was rejected, or any number of things."

Severus sighed. He felt sorry for his former student. And he had never planned on broaching the subject, but she seemed desperate enough.

"Miss Granger, you say none of your possible suitors have approached you; do you think any of them will?"

Hermione surveyed Severus, looking at him as if deciding whether she really ought to share, and then looked back to the pond. "If you count Ron, I had four possible suitors. He's gone, so that's down to three. Of the Merlin-knows-how-many wizards in the world, I only have a chance with three of them. And at the rate that everyone around me is getting engaged and married . . ." She paused, turning to face her former professor again. Her facial expression was distant and difficult to read. "No, I don't think they will approach me. And because the Ministry decided to only inform the eligible wizards of their matches, I will never know who the others are."

Severus closed his eyes and took a deep breath, debating for one final moment before he spoke.

"Well, now you get to know one of them."

The look on her face conveyed mass confusion, and Severus sighed again, pinching the bridge of his nose before meeting her gaze. "I told myself I wasn't going to say anything because you would laugh in my face at the idea, and even if you didn't, it wouldn't work out. I didn't particularly care, though it seems they're dead set on forcing everyone to get married, so I'll be forced to marry someone at the end of the year."

She still looked confused, though he could see that she had figured out what he was implying. "With the Ministry prying as it was, I had no plans to confront you. However, if you remain unmarried at the end of the year as I figure I will, they will likely force us together."

"What exactly are you getting at, Professor?"

The word almost made him cringe. And he realized just how wrong this whole scenario was. "Never mind, Miss Granger. Enjoy your day." He turned to leave and started to walk away when she grabbed his wrist and forced him to turn around.

"No. You don't get to sneak up on me, question me, and start to say something and stop it. Tell me."

Severus groaned and closed his eyes for a moment, mostly to ignore just how close she was. "Very well, but please stop calling me Professor. Not only did I retire from that job, but I am no longer your teacher."

"Then what should I call you?"

He opened his eyes again, scolding her with them. "I have a name, and you know what it is. That would be a good starting place, wouldn't you agree?"

She blushed and dropped his wrist finally before taking a step back.

"Fine, Severus, please finish what you were saying," she said softly. "But so help me, if you call me Miss Granger, I will smack you."

"Fair enough," he agreed and sighed once more. "Mi-Hermione, I am one of the men on whose list your name appeared. I had no intention of saying anything because I assumed that you would be marrying Weasley, and if you didn't, any of the other men on whose lists you appeared would have long since attempted to snatch you up. And even so, I expect you to laugh in my face."

 _Is he . . . is he attempting to say he wants me to consider marrying him?_ Hermione thought, feeling like she was drowning.

"I - I - "

"If you think that if you are bound to receive no inquiries from anyone else, we will likely be forced to marry anyway. I want to present the option to see if we - you thought that was a feasible option."

"But why are you asking? If you were opposed to the idea from the start, why say anything now?"

"Would you rather I have waited until I showed up on your doorstep with a ring and a letter from the Ministry telling us we had no choice? I wasn't going to approach you because I assumed that you would have no interest in the prospect, not because I had no interest in it. Despite what many think about me, despite what I have let others think about me, I do not want to be alone forever. And if I have to force myself to consider marriage and a family, you are the kind of woman I would consider. You are brilliant, brave, and admittedly quite attractive. Honestly, any man would be a fool to not choose a woman like you."

She was blushing so hard that she had to turn away, crossing her arms over her chest as she did so. "So what exactly are you implying or asking or whatever here?"

He stepped towards her and turned her around to face him. "I'm not asking you to marry me. Not right now anyway. I was simply thinking perhaps dinner. And we could decide from there what we would like to do."

Hermione looked at him, contemplating what he had just offered. Hadn't she been thinking just a few minutes earlier about how she wanted anyone to ask her? But he hadn't been what she had in mind. "I-i need some time to think about it."

Severus only nodded before heading back inside to the party.

* * *

It had been a week, and Hermione still couldn't truly decided. She almost owled him more than once to say yes, and then changed her mind and almost owled to say no. A secret part of her had hoped that someone would approach her and yet, another, deeper part of her hoped no one did.

Severus was a fine man, if not what she ever expected for herself. He was certainly brilliant, something she always wanted in a man. Even in his own way, once you got past the nose, he was far more attractive than he had been as a teacher. It seemed that his own personal hygiene had become much more important to him. The only thing that truly kept her stuck (aside from the obvious) was his personality. As long as they had known him, Severus had been a cold, sometimes cruel person. She had very little experience with him after the war, and had no idea how he was now, though he certainly seemed just as detached and cold.

But he had made an excellent point. The one that led to her standing outside of his residence just now. If no one else approached her, if they both remained unmarried, since he was a match, they stood a decent chance of being forced to marry anyway. So if she accepted his invitation to dinner, then at least she could start to get answers to some questions she had about him. And she could see what that marriage could be like.

Yet she still hesitated to knock. He had been her teacher. He was twenty years her senior. He had been a death eater. But he also had spied on Voldemort, risking his life. He constantly put his life at risk for Harry and everyone. He had had such a cold childhood. His walls were there, but perhaps, once someone got past them, there would be more to the bitter man.

So with a deep breath, she knocked on the door to Spinner's end, and waited.

When he answered the door, he did not need to ask why she was there. If she were going to reject him, she would have owled him. So he simply nodded his head to her and gestured for her to enter. "Hermione," he greeted.

She nodded back and stepped forward. "Hello, Severus."


End file.
